He added: “We can use all of these in a complimentary way, from spruce for the structure to larch for the external finishes.

“Scotland is really well placed. In Scandinavia, there are two species - pine and Norway spruce. They are jealous of our forestry culture.”

Timber is regarded for its insulating properties and its low environmental impact given the trees absorb CO2 as they grow and keep carbon locked in until it is burned or starts to decompose.

Mr Sutherland said there was a network of small companies in Scotland building timber-rich housing in workshops.

The technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated and the manufacturing environment suited to the Scottish weather, he added.

He added: “We’re in the timber age of house construction. Methods are getting more sophisticated. Most of the things that service our lives, such as washing machines, are made in workshops as we want quality and we want things that work.

“So the future of housing will also be in the workshop.

“Timber lends itself to this sort of approach as it is a dry environment.

“You are putting the house on a back of a lorry and assembling a three-bedroom house on site in three days.”

He said the average life span of a timber-built house was around 200 years with work continuing to drive down the cost of manufacturing.

Stuart Goodall chief executive of Confor, the Edinburgh-based Confederation of Forest Industries, said the process to get permission to plant commercial forestry, needed to speed up.

Grant support of £4,500 per hectare available to those planting woodland, he added.

“We are working with Fergus Ewing and the Scottish Government to speed up the process but that can still take a very long time and it does put people off.

“If you want to built a house you can get permission in two or three months. IF you want to plant an area of forestry it can take two to three years.

“If the system is right, planting woodland is a very attractive thing to do.”

While research into growing trees more quickly continues, it still takes 30 to 40 years for woodland to mature at present.

“There are plenty of people who are prepared to think on this timescale,” Mr Goodall added.